Cape Town, South Africa – Yesterday, a day of slowing down before the big Lausanne Congress begins. Two sights of stunning beauty…

First:  Cape Point, the southernmost tip of the African continent, a magnificent setting of cliffs, flora, and beaches interrupted by baboons, penguins, and ostrich. What joy, driving on the left with dear friend and mentor Sam Barkat, and lunch on the coast with Peter Storey, Duke professor emeritus and former Methodist bishop of South Africa and colleague of Desmond Tutu.

Second place of stunning beauty: Four statues on the busy, touristy, spectacular water front not far from World Cup stadium. Four statues, four South Africans, four winners of the Nobel Peace prize – Albert Lithuli (1960), Desmond Tutu (1984), FW De Klerk, Nelson Mandela (both 1993). A few miles off shore from Nobel Square is the Robben Island jail cell where Mandela spent over 20 years. Many predicted South Africa under apartheid was headed for bloody revolution. From one small country and its intense pain and hope, four sacrificial lives which declare the way things are is not the way things have to be. May their witness speak to us this week, especially as our reconciliation group visits “the other side of the tracks” during a pilgrimage in a few days.

Also See: First post from Lausanne Congress